Book Review: The New Mother By Nora Murphy

My Rating: 2.5⭐

Our protagonist ,Natalie is a new mother in her early thirties who puts her career on hold to take care of her newborn son. With her husband Tyler, also a lawyer, at work during the daytime she spends her time alone at home caring for her baby, Oliver. Her return to work after her maternity leave proved to be difficult and though she yearns to get back to work, she decides to focus on her child. But depressed, exhausted and sleep deprived, Natalie struggles to take care of her colicky baby. Her husband doesn’t quite seem to understand what she is going through. Enter her neighbor, former college professor and stay-at-home father of a ten year old daughter Paul Riley, who seems to be the child whisperer, helping calm Oliver down, befriending Natalie and offering solid advice and a sympathetic ear to her troubles. But Paul has his own reasons for befriending her and beneath his friendly demeanor is a manipulative mind who intends to use Natalie as a pawn to further his own agenda. Will Natalie be able to see through Paul before it's too late?

Having enjoyed Nora Murphy’s The Favor, I was eager to read her latest offering. While the premise of The New Mother was interesting, the execution fell short. The author does an excellent job of depicting the struggles of a new mother suffering from Post Partum Depression and Psychosis with much sensitivity. Natalie’s struggles with motherhood, her anxiety and stress, her conflict over putting her career on the back burner and the strain it puts on her marriage cover more than half of the novel, which wouldn’t have been a problem had I not been expecting a thriller. Viewed from that perspective, I found the narrative repetitive ( I really don't feel like going into details here and I mean no disrespect to anyone who has gone through what Natalie goes through as a new mother!) and the pace dragged until after the second half of the novel and even then, I was not quite invested in the story which I felt as a tad simplistic (no twists or surprises) and contrived with an ending that was abrupt and less than satisfying.

Many thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on May 30, 2023.